Juneteenth in Sacramento celebrates freedom and black history

Art on display during Juneteenth 2009 celebration  - Photo by Susan Raines

What is Juneteenth? Dating back to 1865 when the abolition of slavery was announced on June 19^th, this is a time of celebration in honor of African-American history, culture, and freedom. Juneteenth in Sacramento is marked by a month that often features African-American art in local galleries and highlights black history, authors, and crafts in many schools, stores, and cultural events. And yet, there are a great number of people in Sacramento that don’t know what Juneteenth is and what it is all about. You can find an informative encyclopedia description at wikipedia.

The major aspect of celebration, beyond the subtler month-long recognition of African-American history and culture, usually occurs over a weekend near June 19^th. This year’s 8th annual Sacramento festival was held in downtown’s William Land Park on June 20-21st 2009. Vendors with items of interest were set up in booths displaying T-shirts and pins proudly reading “I Love Being Black,” African style clothing, books, music, jewelry, general merchandise, and product information. Art by black artists was displayed in a tented enclosure. Another area provided face painting, displays, and tables and chairs for seating.
 

The 2009 event was sorely lacking in food vendors in comparison to what might be found in San Jose or other nearby cities with a longer history of high attendance. Several stages and performing areas were set up to allow for a talent competition, small marching band, inspirational speakers, dancers, musicians and singers. The attendance was mid-range on Saturday while Sunday was sparse and appeared to be faltering in competition with Father’s Day, church, or lack of continued interest. Perhaps the low attendance was due to the event’s shorter history of official celebration in the park; however, regardless of the actual causes,many missed out on a simple yet splendid show of gospel singing in the earlier part of the day.

The event also featured a reggae band with some happy rhythms, a dancing crowd of Juneteenth celebrators, children playing and dancing, old, young, happy, sour, smiling, clapping, listening people of predominately African-american ethnicity with a few extra folk of other ethnic origins. Everyone was welcome. It is a worthwhile and important celebration of freedom and history that deserves to be recognized by more of the Sacramento population. Hopefully the participation will continue to grow so that Sacramento can say it is a proud and extremely successful host of the annual Juneteenth Festival. More people, more ethnic food, more passion, and more sharing is called for to make this important holiday a recognizable winner for our city. There was plenty to enjoy and appreciate and many people did so; however, we just need to double or triple the positive results so that next year we find thousands of dancing, celebrating people, vendors and performers acknowledging the abolition of slavery. There are few issues that could be of greater importance to people of all ethnicities than freedom from slavery of any kind.  To see more Juneteenth photos, check out the attached slideshow. All content and photos by Susan Raines. 

Art prints and event photos can be found at these Rainesphotos galleries.

• Art Prints        
•  Walt Gray Ride For Kids Charity Motorcycle Run 
• FMX (Freestyle Moto Cross) Stunt Photos from CA State Fair 2009

Other Articles by Susan Raines:

• CA State Fair Host Pop-Punk Band and Manasa Dancers       
• Walt Gray Ride For Kids is a Roaring Success
• Walt Gray Ride For Kids Interview & Photos
• Hot August Nights Hosts Classic Cars Galore
• Interracial Relationships: Black & White       
• Turning Fifty - The Quandaries of Aging Gracefully   
• Truck Driver Loves Big Wheels as a Child